


Fangs of Snakes

by Herbluvsdan



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-15 08:14:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4599426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herbluvsdan/pseuds/Herbluvsdan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Butch DeLoria and Jensen have wacky wasteland adventures. and also sex probably.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Butch had, by now, began to resent the color of dark-brown. He counted himself lucky that he never had to see it all too often in the vault, for it reminded him of more peaceful times; hectic in their own right, but nothing as bad as the days following the afternoon Jensen had abandoned Vault 101 in search of his father. Distant memories of dark eyes and frantic speech clouded Butch DeLoria’s mind like a dense fog for the time he was gone, driving him mad the more he indulged these thoughts.

Since the day Jensen had left, the Vault had gone to hell. The chaos had hit Butch personally; half of his gang, Wally Mack and Paul Hannon, Jr., were deceased.

Radroaches infested nearly every part of the Vault, the rules had gotten stricter, and the Overseer had gone martial law on everyone's ass; he enforced a curfew, gave the security detail guns, and ordered them to shoot anyone trying to escape the Vault. And for reasons unknown, he'd begun to wonder where the lone wanderer and his father had run to. He'd been interrogating people as much as possible, and Butch was next.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Butch looked up and squinted at the bright, white, artificial lights on the ceiling of Vault 101.  
"Mister DeLoria, answer my question." The Overseer demanded.  
Butch looked back at the Overseer's weary, angry face. "What? I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." he responded, a grin on his face.  
"This is a matter of the utmost importance, DeLoria, and I expect you to cooperate. Where did Jensen and his father go?" the Overseer asked once more.  
"How the hell should I know? It's not like either of them told me all their secrets, pal."  
"Perhaps not, but you and Jensen seemed to be very good.. friends."  
"Friends? You think we're friends?" Butch asked in disbelief. "We've done nothing but fight each other since we learned how to throw a punch, man. If you're getting vibes of friendliness off of that, I oughta step up my game."  
"Perhaps all that fighting was simply a way to cover up something more." the Overseer suggested.  
"Man, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. But I do know a couple of things. One, I don't know where the hell Jensen went off to. And two, we ain't friends."  
"He saved your mother from a painful death via radroaches. He even left this Vault wearing your very jacket, Butch. These aren't things people do when they hate you."  
Butch sighed. "Maybe he doesn't hate me, I don't know. I don't care. I don't know where he went, you best believe it. Now, would ya let me go?"  
"Not until I get some answers."  
"He ain't told me nothing, how much do I have to say that before it finally gets through your thick skull?"  
"If you continue to disrespect me, I'll be forced to disband your gang, Butch. Is that what you want?"  
"What, the Tunnel Snakes? Look around, that gang is already disbanded! Wally died in the midst of the chaos, and Paul is dead because you couldn't find a fucking doctor! It's only me and Freddie left! You can't disband a gang that don't exist no more!" Butch shouted, hurt in his voice. He directed his eyes away from the Overseer as to hide the fact he was tearing up at the memories of his friends' deaths.

The Overseer sighed, realizing he didn't have much to pin against Butch. He could maybe use Freddie, or perhaps Butch's mother, for some type of leverage, but some kind of hostage situation would certainly cause an uproar. "Butch, you're dismissed." he said suddenly, breaking through the quiet and causing Butch's head to snap up. "But don't think I won't be watching you."  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Threaten me all you want. You don't scare me." Butch responded, standing from his chair and walking towards the exit. "You'll just sit there in your fuckin' chair and watch this vault go to hell like you always do.." he murmured as he left.

As Butch walked down the balconies on his way to his room, he turned to look back for just one second, seeing the Overseer peering through the circular window at him. They shared a moment of eye-contact before Butch continued on to his residence. "Fuckin' asshole couldn't save nobody.. Couldn't save nobody if he even tried.." he grumbled, his eyes watery. 

After some walking, he came upon a room in the vault that was empty. He leaned against the cold, metallic wall of the empty room and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his leather jacket. He slid down the wall and sat on the floor, beginning to think about Jensen yet again.  
"Fucking asshole.. This is all his fault.." he whispered. "This is all his fault!" he whined, slamming his fist again the ground, causing a loud bang.

Deep inside, Butch knew this wasn't truly the lone wanderer's fault. He couldn't control the fact that his father ran out of the vault, and he certainly couldn't control the Overseer's blind rage directed at him. Butch was, of course, very upset that Wally Mack was killed in the conflict, but some part of him forgave Jensen. Part of him didn't want to, though. Part of him wanted to sit and stew about Jensen; part of him wanted to hate Jensen. But there was a larger, more dominant part that just couldn't do it. And so he was torn by inner conflict on whether to hate the wanderer, or to like him. 

Every time he thought about Jensen, he only thought of good things, after all. He couldn't stop envisioning those striking dark brown eyes, and that wild, frantic look in them the day he escaped, turning the whole vault into a war zone. He played the scene over and over in his head, partly sad, partly confused. He wasn't sure why Jensen had helped him or his mother. He was thankful, of course, but he was still confused. He was rather sad, too, that he hadn't followed Jensen. He wished always that he had escaped, that he and Jensen would never've had to part.

By now, many of the young vault-dwellers had started to get ideas about opening the vault. He knew it was going to be harder to escape now, then it would've been two weeks ago when Jensen had ran. He knew also, however, that even if it was going to be hard, he would join the rebels over the loyalists. Anything out in the world was better than a life of the same old shit in the Vault, he figured. And if he got out, then he'd have a chance at seeing Jensen once more. That is, if he wasn't already dead.

Just in time to interrupt his thoughts came Officer Gomez into the very room Butch was in.  
"Butch? DeLoria? What are you doing in here?"  
Butch gasped and stood quickly, running his hands over the front of his jacket. "Uh, nothin', Officer Gomez. I was just about to head back to my room, in fact."  
"Well.. If you say so. If you're about to head back to your room, then I suppose the Overseer doesn't exactly have to know you were loitering here."  
"Really? Gee, thanks, Gomez.. You're a real stand up guy." Butch said as he walked back to his room.

When Butch arrived at the rooms, it was chaos in its purest form, yet again.  
"What the hell is going on?!" he shouted at the crowd in front of him, but over the fighting and shouting, nobody could hear.

Amata grabbed Butch's arm and pulled him to the side. "Butch!" she shouted.  
"Amata? What the hell happened? I was only gone for ten minutes!"  
"They're rioting! It's happening! The rebellion is kicking off!"  
Butch's eyes lit up. It was finally time. "Let go of me Amata, I'm gonna kick someone's ass!" It had occurred to him that maybe a no holds barred beatdown would be a fine stress reliever.  
"No! Don't, they'll kill you! We're going to blockade ourselves in over by the clinic and the classroom!"  
Butch sighed dramatically. "Fine! I guess you want me to go there?"  
"Only if you're going to support our rebellion."  
Butch thought for a moment. He took a deep breath, looking out at the chaos in front of him. He pulled his arm from Amata. "Yeah, I'll head there soon. I gotta find my ma first, I need to make sure she's okay." And with that, he ran through the fighting to find his mother.

When he had finally found his mother, she was cowering on the couch in their room.  
"Ma! Are you alright?" Butch asked.  
"Butch, what's happening?!" she asked frantically.  
"Ma, we gotta go, we gotta get out of here. To the clinic, all the rebels are blocking themselves in and-"  
"The rebels? I'm not going anywhere with any rebels, Butch!"  
"We ain't got time for this! You have to come with me!"  
"No! Leave me here! I'm not going anywhere with you!"  
Butch's hands clenched into fists as he felt an extreme burst of anger overcome him. "Fine, you wanna stay? Stay! Fuck you!" he near-screamed. 

He hurried into the adjoined bedroom and frantically searched through the dresser in the corner. In the bottom drawer he found what he had been looking for: a 10mm pistol he'd stolen from one of the security officers. He quickly cocked the gun and rushed out of the room, heading immediately east.

By the time he arrived, there was a small group of others around. They all gathered in the hall in front of the classroom and clinic.  
"Jesus Christ," he began, huffing for air, "is this all we got?"  
"Butch, are you alright?" Amata asked.  
"What? Yeah, I'm fine! I'm always alright." he replied, standing up straight.  
"Is your mother okay?"  
"Who fucking cares, Amata, just get on with whatever else you wanna say."  
Amata sighed. "Fine. Everyone, you're all here, presumably, because you are tired of the Overseer's overbearing nature, and you want the Vault to be opened. Well, um, I'm sure that if we all stay here for a while, and block up the ways they could get in, we'll be able to accomplish our goal! They'll have to get tired with us protesting sometime!"

At this, everyone cheered. All except for Butch, of course. Too much had happened in the past month for him to cheer. He wasn't sure if there were any reasons to be celebrating. From there, he was assigned to a guard post, to make sure nobody came through the front entrance. He stood vigil, making sure to protect the others, even if he didn't much care for them.

Of course, this came with some difficulty. Though nobody came through much, he was still expected to watch at all times. He found, more often than not, his mind drifted to other things, causing his attention to fail. 

He thought even more about Jensen now that he might have a chance at seeing him again, out there in the Wastes. Even if it was a low chance, he felt his heart flutter when he thought about it. He wasn't sure why, and it made him feel all strange. He wasn't friends with Jensen, he told himself, there was no reason to feel so fluttery over him. Yet he couldn't keep his mind off that man, that tall, handsome man.

He, of course, also thought about his mother. Part of him felt guilty for saying such things to his mother, but another part felt that she deserved it. After all, how often had she reciprocated his care for her? They were no longer on good terms, but now that he thought about it, they never had been, not when she was sober and not when she was drunk. The way he figured it, she wasn't really worth his time after all.

Almost a week came and went before Amata informed the others that she was going to transmit an emergency signal out into the Wastes in an attempt to find Jensen again. With this news, Butch felt hope again after so long without it. He was excited and hopeful that perhaps he might see Jensen again after all.

Another few days went by, until suddenly there were distant sounds of alarm sirens. Not too long after, Freddie ran back to base in a panic. Butch stopped him.  
"Freddie, what's up? You look like hell."  
"Butch, th-they shot at me! They almost got me, man! I woulda been done for.. Just like Paul.."  
"Hey, look at me. You wouldn't have been done for. Don't you say that. We ain't losing any more people, Freddie."  
"You're right Butch.. Of course. There was someone else down there though, I think it was.. Man, I gotta take a breather, I can't even think.."

After a few minutes, footsteps could be heard through the halls. Butch readied his knife and prepared for whoever could arrive. As the person walking toward him came into full view, he dropped his knife and stood up straight. He gasped loudly once he saw the leather Tunnel Snakes jacket. "It's you.." he whispered.  
"That it is.. Butch, you sure have grown soft since I last saw you, huh? I was expecting a 'fuck you' or something." Jensen responded quietly.  
Butch was borderline speechless. "Yeah, okay, fuck you, asshole. But.. you.. You were out in the wasteland.." he sputtered.  
"That I was." Jensen replied, pulling Butch into a tight hug. "Man, it's so great to see you again."  
"Jesus, I could hardly recognize you with all that dirt and shit from outside.. And you still got my jacket, huh? I'm glad to see you again, too, but.. Man, you've really got some balls walking back in here. How the hell did you survive out there?" Butch asked as he was released.  
"Of course I have the jacket. Couldn't just not wear it. But, uh, Butch, are you okay? You sure are acting weird. Have you always acted like this?"  
"Uh.. Ahem, what are you talkin' about? I'm fine. How the hell did you get back in here?"  
"Sure.. I got back in with the password. Amata's name. I sure am glad to see you're still alive, Butch. I got worried on the outside that maybe, uh.. maybe you hadn't made it through all the chaos back there."  
"Ain't nothing to worry about, pal. The Butch-man can handle himself. I was worried pipsqueak wasn't gonna make it on the outside, but hell, here you are."  
"Who you calling pipsqueak, eh? I'm taller than you!" Jensen said, chuckling.  
"Whatever.." Butch said.

He gazed deep into those dark eyes he'd missed so much. But he noticed something different about them, something sad, or perhaps experienced. The pupils were dilated and every movement of Jensen was slowed, as if he were weighed down by some invisible force. But he didn't seem to mind at all; no, Jensen stared right back, smiling.

"I really am glad to see you, Butch." he said quietly.  
"Yeah, I know. I always make a real impression on people." Butch joked, trying to lighten the intensity of their moment.  
"Yeah, that's for sure.." Jensen whispered, not letting Butch ruin it.  
"But, uh.. I'm sure you wanted to.. see someone.." Butch reminded him awkwardly.  
Jensen looked away, blushing. "Oh, uh, yeah. Amata. Right. I should see her about the signal and all. I'll be seeing you Butch. Oh, and uh.. I'm sorry. About Wally. I know he was a good friend of yours.."  
"Don't worry about it. He wasn't the only one to go anyway."  
"Who else kicked it?"  
"Paul. It was those radroaches. No doctors, no help, so he didn't make it."  
"Paul? He's really..?"  
"Yeah."  
"I'm.. sorry."  
"I'll catch you later, Jensen." Butch said quietly.

As soon as Jensen walked away, Butch inhaled sharply and exhaled deeply. His cheeks felt hot and his heart was racing. "What in the hell is happening to me?" he muttered to himself quietly, clutching his chest. 

He stayed in his position, though he had a nagging feeling to seek out Jensen again. He was unsure why, or even what he wanted to do once he had caught up with him. He decided not to listen, completely sure that he would make a fool of himself. He smoothed out his leather jacket and took a deep breath. "Things really have gotten screwed.." he muttered to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a strange uneasiness building in his chest as Jensen stood before the door to the Admin office. This was it. This moment would make history in Vault 101. He would go before the Overseer and assert the wishes of the rebel forces inside the Vault. He didn't know if it would work. Hell, he wasn't even sure he wanted it to work. 

While opening the Vault was likely to be the best choice, he was wary of the rest of the inhabitants going out into that horrid wasteland. He still stung from the pain of losing his father, and wasn't sure he wanted to lose any more people to the wasteland. Most of all he worried for Butch, who was all too eager to run into the wasteland. Jensen knew he was likely to get himself killed. For some reason, Jensen hadn't been able to stop thinking about the man, and his death could only make things worse, he was sure.

Jensen shook his head and slowly reached for the bright buttons attached to the wall, opening the large metal door. As he entered the room, he saw the Overseer stand from his desk, a foul look on his face as he regarded Jensen.  
"So, you've come back, hm? Come back like the rat you are, slipping into the Vault once more, and for what? Couldn't find dear old dad, is that it?" he spat.  
"Don't you speak of my father. This ain't about him right now." Jensen growled.  
"This is most definitely about him! If your failure of a father hadn't abandoned us all that night, then none of this would've happened!"  
"None of this is my dad's fault! All of this is your fault! You couldn't control the disruption in your vault, and now it's all gone to hell because you couldn't handle it. Now I'm here to fix your mistakes. You need to open the Vault."  
"Opening the Vault would be the biggest mistake to make. It's.. noble, that you come here and try to tell me what's best for my Vault, but it isn't going to work."  
"You need to think of the future! We lost a lot of people the day I left. Think about it, man. With no new people in this Vault, how long do you really think everyone is going to last? Maybe two generations more before you'll all be fucking inbred."  
"No, that can't be.. We still have many people in this Vault.. Don't we? My God.. You're right. The Vault cannot survive if it is kept closed. But I can't be the one to open it... I'm stepping down from the position of Overseer.. Please tell Amata that I can see no better a replacement for myself than her. And.. Offer her my apologies.."

Jensen didn't take the time to say goodbye, but instead merely ran back to inform Amata of her father's choices.

Butch was leaning against the wall, drumming his fingers on it boredly when Jensen returned, an excited expression on his face.  
"Geez, someone looks happy. Something really amused you, eh?" Butch remarked, standing up straight.  
"Butch, you're getting your wishes. Vault's gonna open!" Jensen told him.  
Butch grinned. "Really?"  
"Oh, yeah. Looks like you ain't gotta be a hairdresser after all, Butch." Jensen teased as he walked past Butch.  
"Shut up, nosebleed.." Butch muttered.

After a few minutes, Butch heard cheering from the others further down the hall, likely due to the news that their revolution had been a success. Some time after that, however, Jensen came stalking down the hall with his head low like a stray dog in the rain.  
"Yo, Jensen, what's wrong? Where you going, you just came back!" Butch said irritably. He wasn't sure he was ready to lose Jensen again. "You ain't even gonna stay to, I dunno, celebrate?"  
"I gotta go Butch. I guess I don't blame anyone for blaming me and my pop for all of this.. I wish I could stay, but everyone needs me out, otherwise the Vault will be ripped to shreds for sure." he replied, chuckling nervously.  
"Well.. I mean, if you're going, take me with you! Don't leave me here in this Vault at the mercy of the Overseer!"  
"Amata is the new Overseer. I'm sure she'll let you out. Can't imagine why she wouldn't. Anyway, I can't take you with me, Butch.. I'm sorry. I wish I could, but I just.. can't.." Jensen said as he began to leave.  
"Jay, you can't just walk away.." Butch said incredulously.

Jensen stopped a short distance from Butch and sighed. He turned to face the tunnel snake. "I have to, Butch. I'll catch you later." And with that, he was gone.

As he left the Vault for the last time, he could feel the penetrating glares of it's inhabitants, watching with happiness as they were rid of the man who'd single handedly ruined their home. 

He gazed back longingly at the Vault door once it had closed, and stayed a few moments to say his goodbyes to that which was his home not even four weeks ago. He pressed his hand to the uninviting metal surface and sighed. "Looks like this is the end.. The real one." he whispered, before moving on to leave the cave in which the Vault had been built, and out into the hot, unforgiving Capital Wasteland.

\--

Only a few days after Jensen had gone, Amata announced that whoever wished to leave the Vault was allowed to freely go. Butch was the first to volunteer to leave, of course, eager to brave the Wastes, and eager to see if he could find Jensen once more.

As he said his goodbyes to everyone, and offered a passing remark to his mother, Butch made his way out of the vault. When that big metal door closed, he didn't even look back. He thought himself lucky to finally be out. When he opened the door to the outside world, he was greeted by bright sunlight, and harsh unforgiving heat. He breathed in the dusty, irradiated air, coughing as he did so.

He gazed out upon the barren, wrecked land, noting something to his right that resembled a large heap of scrap metal. Despite his best efforts to move to it and investigate, he found himself too awe-struck by the wasteland to really move. He was all too creeped out by the openness, and the sky, and even the ground beneath his feet. It all seemed so overwhelming and new, and nothing like what he expected.

After a few minutes, he finally regained functionality and began to move toward the pile of metal in the distance.

On the opposite side of the wasteland sat Jensen on a bar stool in the Muddy Rudder, drinking away his pain and grief. Pain from having to leave Butch, grief for having to lose his father. He couldn't even remember his parting moments from Butch, or much of anything from his time back in the Vault. He internally scolded himself for taking those hits of Jet before going in. He knew that going in high wouldn't have been a good choice, and yet he did it anyway. But then, wasn't that what being a junkie was about? 

He remembered back to when his father found out about the Jet. He was pissed as all hell. Jensen sank lower in the stool as he remembered how it all went down, shame cascading over him in waves; his father had told him to stop, and yet there he was, wanting another fix already. 

Days went by where Jensen didn't do much at all. He traveled somewhat, investigating some of the ruins around the Capital for scrap or anything to make a few caps, but other than that, he kept to Rivet City. He worried, too. Worried about Butch, worried about how that poor boy would never be able to survive in the Wasteland.

It was an early Sunday morning when Jensen found himself in the Muddy Rudder, downing his third shot of whiskey like his life depended on it. That was when he heard a unusually loud screech of the boat door being opened. As if someone were unable to open it. And he was right. As soon as the door had stopped screeching, down the stairs came Butch DeLoria, muttering curses at the door.

Jensen looked upon the man, eyes wide, half drunken and half in shock. When Butch noticed Jensen, he adopted an expression similar to the other man's.

"Well, Jay. Hey, there. Good to see you're alive."


End file.
